Taiwan grabs 1 gold, 1 silver, 6 bronzes at junior taekwondo event

Taipei, May 9 (CNA) Taiwanese teenagers clinched one gold, one silver, and six bronze medals at the sixth Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships in Hanoi, Vietnam, which concluded on Tuesday.

On the final day of competition Tuesday, Wu Meng-hsin took a silver medal in the girls' 59-63kg category after losing to a Chinese rival in the final, while Chiu Yi-tzu and Pan Yu-ping won bronze medals in the girls' 63-68kg and over-68kg categories, respectively.

Hu Yu-chiao, Taiwan's only male athlete to win a medal during the three-day event, took a bronze medal in the boys' 68-73kg category Tuesday.

During the first two days of the event, Huang Huai-hsuan won gold in the girls' 44-46kg category, and Hsu Nai-yun, Tsai Po-hsi, and Huang Yi-hua won bronzes in the girls' under-42kg, 42-44kg and 49-52kg categories, respectively.

Although the results were not as good as last year, they were still acceptable, said Wu Hsi-ming, the coach of Taiwan's national junior taekwondo team.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's three taekwondo Olympic hopefuls will be competing at the 20th Asian Taekwondo Championships, also being held in Hanoi from May 9 to 11.

Taiwanese taekwondo athletes Yang Shu-chun, Wei Chen-yang, and Tseng Li-chen, who have all booked spots in the London Olympics, have good chances to win medals in Hanoi, said national team coach Sung Ching-hung.